Field
The described embodiments relate to techniques for communicating information among electronic devices. In particular, the described embodiments relate to techniques for dynamically selecting an antenna pattern when receiving transmission in a network, such as a wireless local area network (WLAN).
Related Art
Many electronic devices are capable of wirelessly communicating with other electronic devices. In particular, these electronic devices can include a networking subsystem that implements a network interface for: a cellular network (UMTS, LTE, etc.), a WLAN (e.g., a wireless network such as described in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard or Bluetooth from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group of Kirkland, Wash.), and/or another type of wireless network. For example, many electronic devices communicate with each other via WLANs using an IEEE 802.11-compatible communication protocol (which are sometimes collectively referred to as ‘Wi-Fi’).
In existing WLANs, an access point may increase spatial selectivity by focusing an antenna radiation pattern (which is henceforth referred to as ‘an antenna pattern’) during transmission using beamforming. For example, the access point may implement beamforming by combining antenna elements in a phased array. Moreover, in some existing WLANs, an access point may change a direction of a main lobe or node in the antenna pattern during transmission, so that the transmitted energy is directed towards a particular recipient, such as a station or an electronic device.
However, access points in existing WLANs usually use an omnidirectional antenna pattern when receiving frames or packets from a station or an electronic device. Because the receive antenna pattern is not directional, losses may be increased. This may adversely impact the communication performance in a WLAN and, thus, may degrade the user experience when attempting to communicate using such networks.